#cog: twc

[kazuo-n-crinan]

Here are my favorite moments in The Wayhaven Chronicles Book 3! I really enjoyed the friend route and I think everyone should see these 🥺 babies.

I tried to imitate the glowy text Seraphinite Games uses in the previews. It didn't fly as much as I thought, but I'm glad about how it turned out.

I blurred the iconic moon phases thingie because I couldn't find a high resolution resource to use 🥲 I think it made it dramatic!

I really wanted to lean on @javsarts, @mooreaux, and @waspgraveart designs for Unit Bravo. I cannot tell how much time I spent staring at them! They capture the characters so well!! I did take some creative liberties because it was hard getting the colors right.

Again! Crediting @kazukitnacho for all his hard work! Please check out his personal blog, as this illustration wouldn't be the same without him. Thank you, partner!

I couldn't do much for the backgrounds, but I hope to improve on it. I also really loved the opportunity to align the colors with the chapters and the poses, it really adds to the parallelism!

Here is the illustration without the text:

[ladinthehat]

I literally can't fall asleep because I remembered Wayhaven exists, and I am going to make this a problem not only for myself, but anyone else who sees this post as well. I don't even write posts but I really need to throw my thoughts out somewhere lmao

Warning: spoilers for every TWC book, what did you expect. Also talks about mommy/daddy issues and some mentions of harmful stereotypes about POC, both in media and real life. ALSO probably lots of mistakes and rambling, it's literally 3 am give me a break

Wayhaven is such a promising series of books that fell so flat with book 3, even though some could argue there were already issues popping up in book 2. I, personally, enjoyed it just as much as the first one, but that's up to anyone's opinion. Hold on, this deserves a whole list.

My personal and biggest gripe, MC's relationship with their mom. To write something so complex and then chuck it down to two choices (the choices being "forgive your mom" or "don't forgive your mom and everyone will make you feel like a piece of shit") feels so disappointing, especially if you consider what people with parental issues usually deal with irl. Of course there are people who choose to forgive their parent or not, but more often than not (and, as a result of that, what feels most realistic to write in a book) they end up somewhere in-between - it's a bittersweet relationship which you can either choose to continue or not, but the past memories and missed childhood can't just be forgotten and thrown under the rug. That's what MC's relationship with Rebecca could've been, too: a *complex* relationship that can either continue or get cut off completely, and it's a choice that should be respected, because a child that has been neglected has the full right to not trust their willingly neglectful parent again. And to some degree the author does try to achieve it, but in the end you will still have only two choices. And also, in Wayhaven you can literally feel what option author considers to be correct and not choosing that gets you punished severely, e.g. the carnival situation and every dialogue where you choose to not be cordial with Rebecca (the author never forgets to mention how you made everyone feel terrible. "Congrats you piece of shit, you ruined everything because you just can't accept that your mom wants to be buddy buddy again, ugh.") This pattern of turning complex situations into only having yes/no answers, with a negative choice having severe punishments, is such a recurring pattern throughout the whole book series that at this point it feels like a feature that I just didn't get (e.g you don't even get a choice if you want to join the agency or not, you just do, because that's the correct option). Also, I don't believe that literally no one, not even MC's best friends or partner, would try to see their side or god forbid agree with MC cutting contact with Rebecca.

You can literally feel that N and A are supposed to be the star children of TWC. While it was less obvious in book 1, it can't be ignored anymore in books 2 and 3. It does feel even more weird because M and F have the darkest complexions out of the cast, and are depicted as overtly sexual/flirty for absolutely no reason, to the point that sometimes it literally contradicts what the author established about the characters before (M can't handle most fabrics touching their skin and can't eat food because the taste of anything is too much for them, what do you mean they are hypersexual?? isn't sex one of the most stimulating things you can do that can literally be too much for a lot of people that don't even struggle with overstimulation on a daily basis??), but it doesn't feel appropriate to say too much on this issue as I'm literally as white as paper, not to mention that this topic has been brought up by many POC in the IF community who can have more nuance on this situation than I ever could. I can, however, talk about how inconsistent and over-exaggerated M and F's personalities are, compared to A and N feeling much more realistic and well-paced. I hate how M and F are mischaracterized in their own universe and all the meaningful things are overshadowed by "haha M likes sex and is lewd and aggressive" and "haha F is a silly lil' goober". Their romances suffer from it too, which brings me to-

The romance routes could be so much better. And I'm not talking about N or A obviously, even though that's another can of worms that I, frankly, don't want to open, but F and M. M is dumbed down to being aggressive, sexual and borderline feral at times, which are all GREAT traits to give all at the same time in your book to a person of color btw (they're not), but their scenes perform best when the author acknowledges that M is actually none of those things. Just them existing in the same space as MC and feeling at ease and relaxed (and, dare I say, vulnerable) feel much more intimate and rewarding than literal sex scenes, and I feel like that's what romance with M should've been about: two people, who are both lost and confused and overwhelmed in this new to them world (M from memory loss, MC from being thrown into the supernatural scene) bonding, finding comfort and familiarity in each other. Breaking all that buildup with innuendos and sexual propositions feels unnecessary, to be honest.

Continuation of the previous point, but the same could be said about F too. Poor F, the forgotten child of TWC; they're my absolute favorite, and it hurts to see them being thrown somewhere in the background as a comedic relief side character so many times. I feel like they could be the character who gets MC the most, even if they're not dating or particularly close. They have a difficult relationship with their mom, they're thrown into an unfamiliar world that's hard to navigate and it feels like everyone wants too much from them. You can't tell me that it's not some great exposition for a deeper connection between F and MC, both romantic and platonic, as well as an opportunity to explore anxiety and impostor syndrome/separation anxiety (not interchangeable, just feels like either one could fit F) in a seemingly optimistic character. But nah, they like Rebecca and are just a funny little fella. Definitely not playing into more media stereotypes of the only black character in the main cast being a flirty comedic relief.

At this point TWC is going to rival One Piece on the amount of meaningless fillers. And they wouldn't feel so meaningless if the author didn't try to mix slice-of-life and supernatural, or at least didn't mix them so poorly, but most of the time an occasional meaningless scene is thrown into the plot for some short-term tension for what feels to be absolutely no reason other than increasing the word count. Take the blood drive thing as an example of this: what was this scene for?? It started unnecessary tension, had a weird solution and just offered nothing to the rest of the book except for allowing Bobby to finally confront the RO of choice in a very awkward manner. I feel like the author promising 7 books (correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember something like that mentioned in the earliest tumblr posts) feels like a the author chewing off more than she can bite. And it sucks, because had she not had that amount of books (and subsequently a gargantuan word count) looming over her head, we could have had more actually meaningful and fulfilling scenes like ones in the bakery, literally my favorites. It could benefit the pacing, worldbuilding and reader enjoyment greatly.

I could write so much more but at this point I could just go on forever lol

[waspgrave]

I keep getting recommended the Inifinity series but then I read this about the main character options and no lol

[mogalas]

Well, I guess I'll never get an answer since ADM and others who commented on this initial thread all sought to block me. I said nothing harmful towards them and instead asked for them to clarify their positions a bit better as everything looks to be against them at the moment from what I've understood.

I can't even be accused of being a TWC defender because my main knowledge of the series is the hilarious drama over the body hair for the vampire ROs from years back. I couldn't even tell you all the names of the ROs.

All I have is one request, please make public your evidence for the racism in the first instance. I have seen people on ADM's side allude to evidence and that people should do their own research to find out. Surely those in that camp have got to understand how that response looks to a ley person like myself. It's the same style of defence that objectively wrong people like those in flat earth and in anti-vaxx camps make.

I don't usually add tags to my post but I would be grateful if this reaches ADM or their friends: grapecaseschoices and vakarian-babes. I'm willing to have an open and civil conversation, on the basis that you agree that all replies are public.

I only have the best interests of the IF sphere at heart and have tried my hand at trying to help through the backlash that many faced a few years ago on CoG. So I hope that can serve as some sort of character profile that can verify my position as a neutral arbiter.

I hope you're proud of yourself, couch warriors of the wayhaven fandom, specifically you, @ava-du-mortain who can only pick on people like @/ladiemars from the security of your big horse and immersive ego. The fandom is basically a cess pool full of entitled people who are too weird about FICTIONAL characters, but you honestly raised the bar for me. Do you realise that your actions have consequences, or do you just type shit out and think that whatever comes out of your empty skull is justified??

How many times does @seraphinitegames have to tell you all to be normal?? Do you not realise that your behaviour is directly reflecting on the work that you are so fiercely protecting?

Do you seriously think that if you go around telling people to not interact with someone because you have some wild ideas in your head about that person, that the author is going to do what? Pat you on your head? Or the character you're defending is going to say thank you??? Or that putting a bunch of labels on yourself and covering yourself in an image where you appear as someone oh so compassionate is justifying the way you behave or the kind of things you say?

Wake up, you're not in kindergarten anymore, and this isn't your playground where you indicate your own rules, for the love of god I do not believe in, you HAVE to act your age, because this is embarrassing. You don't like some blog? Block them, move on. You don't have to bring them on the verge of suicide and make them seek therapy just to feel better about yourself.

You're not earning any brownie points for your shitty behaviour.

[donutcats]

twc anon update!!!! i have played the m route and 😳😳😳 you are so right. phenomenal route a++ amazing. instantly one of my faves. also apparently you can delete saves in cog/hostedgames games now!!! as of the 24th of august the games should have quietly updated with the new feature :0 . which is an absolute game-changer

Morgan means everything to me you have NO IDEA! she is THE MOST SPECIAL OF WOMAN!!! the M route is truly chefs kiss nothing can beat it I'm soooooo sorry Adam but you lost steam in twc2 and Morgan did absolutely crush you when it came to romance.

YOU CAN DELETE SAVES?? ANON YOU HAVE NO CLUE HOW THIS NEWS HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!! im so ready to replay all of twc just to clean up my saves THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! <33

[vertiny-main]

character moodboards - charlie wolfe (the wayhaven chronicles) “you can’t always be strong, but you can always be brave.”

[pseudogirlie]

Little miss agent with a perfect smile

Started a new play through w this girlie :3c

[agentark]

can't wait to get my hand on a book 3 guide to figure out the requirements for some of these skill checks

[snowywhipcream]

Dear books/IFs fan-art artists. How (the hell) do you draw characters that matches your visualization of them? Because that’s some skill right there and I’m not even exaggerating.

[queen-scribbles]

Snark bros are go, I repeat

Snark Bros are go😎

[delfuniart]

head empty only the detective and felix being in love 🥺❤️

[kazuo-n-crinan]

Finally got around to make fanart for The Wayhaven Chronicles! I present to you Detective-Agent Val Batra!!

As always thank you @kazukitnacho for your instructions❤️ it took a while to finish this off but hopefully I can add another post with a moodboard or Val's expressions or something.

Things of note:

I wanted to portray different moments in each of the books to better showcase Val as a character. Book I is when "Murphy" had her and Mason cornered; Book II is exposing her neck scar while at the carnival; Book III is at The Bidder's Nest.

My first round I played as they/them and picked the name Val because it sounded cool, and later started thinking about the Meaning™️ of it all. I decided to default with "Val" even when I started playing with she/her, so that's that.

Behind The Name says the surname "Batra" can be either Indian or Arabic, so I wanted to reflect that through her character design. In my mind (because I didn't comfirm it xd) Rebecca took Rook's surname, so Val's ethnic heritage is directly connected with her father's!

Regarding Rook, I think Val is the living image of the man -his face, his height, his built- but the complete opossite of him. Where he was charming, she's intimidating; where he was impulsive, she's cautious; where's he was friendly, she's stoic; and where he was stubborn, she's flexible. They both grapple with being funny but genuine. So basically Rook but with Rebecca's personality. However, as of Book III, I see Val becoming more and more like Rook in the future.

Talking about Rebecca, the first time I played and she was introduced, I was like, "oh- we're Jewish! Cool!" (shorsighted assumption in restrospective but bear with me) so I added that into the mix. I might elaborate more on this later but for now Val's favorite pastry to have with her coffee definitely is chocolate rugelach! Those things look so tasty!!

Textually she has black hair and grey eyes, but in my mind I see the grey being borderline black- like, dark as a tunnel. I really love the idea of light being reflected on/through them, and when putting it all together the black eyes/black hair are so so cool.

She dresses subdued or smart. She's into science and deduction, so she's a huge nerd who spends all her time doing research instead of combat training. She's a mind over heart, overall optimistic teamplayer, and she's always by the book.

My main influences for her design were Alba Flores and Saffron Vadher. So beautiful!

The font I used for Val's signature is Southam Demo Font and you can find it in 1001fonts.

[sketchy-saram]

Yo Wayhaven Detectives!

Question for you!

Do you tend to either:

A. Only play one route/one Detective

B. Play multiple routes, but all with the same Detective, or

C. Play multiple routes and have different Detectives for each one?

Just curious! Plus I've been thinking about Them again, so I just kind of wanted to get more in touch with the Wayhaven fandom ;v; ♡

[them-choices]

another short tiktok video ✌️😗

[fruitjuucy]

Nate doesn’t need to be interesting, he’s tall 🤷🏻‍♀️

i made these so fast y’all

[harurusstuff]

Reminding me of someone... ╰( ･ ᗜ ･ )➝